


Punch Drunk

by donato



Category: Emergency!
Genre: Episode Related, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 07:57:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9594452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donato/pseuds/donato
Summary: When it comes to making things complicated, Johnny has it down to a fine art even from the most simplest things.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is a missing scene from the episode: How you Play the Game.  
> Writer: Jim Carlson  
> Producer: Edwin Self  
> Director: Joseph Penney  
> All words till Roy and Johnny return to the squad from the opening scene are written by Jim Carson. No copyright infringement intended.

"I’m OK. I’m alright.” Johnny said to Vince, as he shook his head several times after being sucker punched in the face by a disorientated drunk driver. 

“Must’ve been something I said?” Johnny told a concerned Roy who came to Johnny’s aid and take over from what Johnny was doing.

Johnny’s nose was still bleeding a little and he was still hearing bells ringing in his head. He gave his head an odd little shake now and then to unscramble his brain and reassemble his thoughts. Johnny gave a sniff and once again touched his sore nose before going back to the squad.

“Rampart, this is Squad 51, the driver has become violent and had to be subdued, he went into some kind of a seizure.” Johnny told Brackett over the biophone.

The patient was put onto the gurney, restrained, vitals taken and then sent into Rampart, complaining of sore guts. Meanwhile Johnny’s nose slowly stopped bleeding.  
Dr Brackett and Dixie were seeing to the patient in treatment 3 while Johnny was being seen by Dr Early in treatment 1.

“Well… it’s not broken but I’ll be happy to put on a cast if you want me to?” Joe stated while leaning into the table Johnny was sitting on.

“Oh….Thanks Doc, but I’ll get an outside opinion. No offense.” He quickly added on as Kel came into the room. 

“Hi Roy; Johnny.” Kel replied to Roy’s greeting. “How’s the nose?”

“Ugh, I feel like I’ve gone ten rounds with Mohammed Ali.” Johnny was scrunching up his nose while Kel gave it a quick look.

Kel then asked about what position the patient was against the steering wheel when they found him. Kel had been unable to find any injuries that correlated to the man’s earlier complaints. Johnny said how the man was up against the steering wheel and had hit the bridge of his nose and rib cage. He was showing Dr Brackett where on his own nose the man had hit the wheel and was instantly reminded of his own malady. He gave out a slight groan. So far none of this or the following conversation helped the good Doctor.  
On their way out to the squad Dr Early reminded Johnny to “keep ya nose outta trouble.” 

Johnny’s nose was now reddening up with some bruising across his bridge.

“C’mon Rudolph, Santa’s squad waits for no man.” Roy said as he swung his partner towards the squad swinging the HT from his wrist.

“Oh, ha ha. Very funny Roy.”

Chet was in the apparatus bay putting away the mop and bucket as the squad backed in.

“Oh, great! If you so much as mention Rudolph I will personally kill you. I don’t need Chet getting any ideas or help from you in the name calling department.” Johnny said as he eyed Chet standing at the closet waiting for them to get out.

“You know Gage ya look like Rudolph.” Chet started to laugh missing the startled look Johnny threw at Roy.

Roy just shrugged his shoulders and made his way into the day room to get a cup of coffee before sitting down. Chet rushed into the dayroom to tell the rest of the guys before Johnny entered.

“What? Ya never seen a bruised nose before?” Johnny said trying to deflate Chet’s dramatic announcement.

The guys looked at Johnny’s nose. Mike just shrugged his shoulders, said it must hurt and went back to reading his book. Marco gave a long whistle and offered to put a piece of tonight’s steak on it.

“That’s for a black eye, Marco. What Johnny needs is the rest of his posse.” Chet said. Receiving blank looks all round, Chet elaborated “Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Bashful."

“Bashful was a dwarf, ya twit.” Cap said.

“Hey, just because he was a small reindeer, didn’t mean he couldn’t pull Santa’s sleigh with the rest of ‘em.” Chet proclaimed indignantly.

By now Johnny was giggling over his coffee which Roy took away from him. “No hot drinks, remember.” Roy said. Meanwhile the conversation continued on in the dayroom.

“No ya fool! Bashful was one of the seven dwarfs in Sleeping Beauty.” Marco said.

“No, ya wrong there. Bashful was in Snow White, hence the name Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger and slept for a hundred years. Blitzen is the name of the last reindeer.” Mike said casually before adding on “In Johnny’s posse.” 

This caused all the men to laugh and Johnny to mumble something about traitorous engineers and surely grown men with no children shouldn’t be that up to date on kiddie’s nursery rhymes and fairy tales. He went to the fridge and poured himself a large glass of milk and rummaged around in the freezer and fixed himself an ice pack using a clean dish towel.

“We need one of those ice packs that you unscrew the lid and put ice in. It would be a lot less messy than this.” Johnny moaned as some ice cubes fell out. 

“It would never get used, oh wait, I forget, only you would ever need to use it Gage.” Chet said as Johnny was picking up the ice cubes from the floor. 

“Oh, go play on the freeway Chet.” Johnny moaned before sitting down, ice pack over his nose and glass of milk in hand. “Does it look that bad?” Johnny asked Roy.

“Well Junior you could carry off Rudolph in a school play without makeup.” Roy stated matter of factly.

“That’s just swell! I hope this ice works.” Johnny replied before getting the log book from Roy. “I’ll do this, you go call Joanne. I need Louisa’s phone number but it’s back home. Jo should have it, shouldn’t she?”

“I’m sure Jo knows her best friend’s phone number. I thought you were taking her to the game tomorrow. Why do ya need the number?”

“Geeze Roy, I can’t go on a date looking like this. I’d scare the girl off and never get a second date.” Johnny gave Roy an ‘I don’t believe you at times’ look and shook his head but quickly stopped as it caused his head to ache a bit. 

“Of course, how silly of me not to realize the vagaries of dating” Roy got up and went to phone Jo. His friend’s insecurities, or should that be vanity, never ceased to amaze him.

Later in the day Johnny got a slight headache. He didn’t give it much thought. He just popped a few aspirin throughout the shift and continued coaching Chet on how to pitch and play ball in-between runs. The game was set for tomorrow.

Louise still turned up at the game. Jo had told her about Johnny’s bruised nose and how he looked like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer according to Roy. The girls had a good laugh but decided to surprise Johnny by Louise just appearing and sitting with the De Soto family.

Johnny popped a few more aspirin several times throughout the hot day. He was playing catcher and was continually bobbing up and down throughout the game. His head was killing him by the end of the day. He had been feeling a bit lethargic and heavy limbed and had missed a few easy catches. The pressure to not lose was making him stressed as it looked inevitable that they were going to be dishing out for the days’ expenses. His good humor dissipated as the day wore on. His nose was tender, bruised and swollen. His allergies had also started to act up with all the pollens in the air and it was making his nose run. So every time he had to wipe his nose it hurt it a bit more and made it redder. His eyes felt sore and watery.

Louise and Johnny did manage to get together for a bit at lunchtime but realized they had nothing in common. They would stay as friends and nothing else. Joanne’s attempt at matchmaking didn’t work this time around. Joanne started thinking of another friend that could possibly suit Johnny.

Apart from the guys losing and having to pay out $9 each, everybody actually had a good day. Everybody but Johnny. He was persona non grata with the crews from 51s two shifts. 36s thought he was great since they had conned him into agreeing to the bet. Johnny went home and collapsed on the couch. He felt exhausted. His headache was better when he lay down. The dizziness was easing as well. He had started feeling dizzy late in the afternoon during the last innings.

 

“Roll Call, if anybody is interested.” Cap said the next day, as he poked his head into the kitchen. It was the start of a 48 hour shift. Johnny, Roy and Chet made their way out to stand in line with Marco and Mike. Johnny got latrines, partly as punishment for making a bet with 36’s about the game. Chet was just pleased it wasn’t him since he was last in.  
Johnny had his head down scrubbing the floors when he became dizzy and nauseous. He thought he was going to throw up. At least I’m in the right place, he thought. He made his way into the toilet but the feeling went away shortly after standing up. He went back to scrubbing the floor on his hands and knees and the feeling came over him again. Quickly standing up, he scrambled into the toilet, skidding on the wet floor as he went. He just got there in time when he threw up his last cup of coffee. Squatting by the bowl he fell back and leaned against the wall of the toilet for support. He felt better apart from a slight headache and runny eyes and nose from the vomiting. 

He waited a while, but feeling no further incidence of threatening nausea and vomiting, he got up and resumed his cleaning. He once again felt sick and dizzy when he got on his hands and knees. Not again, Johnny thought. If this keeps up he would never get the latrine done. Hugging the bowl once again, he heaved a few times and brought some more breakfast up, which ended with Johnny dry retching. When he felt it was safe he sat back again and rested for a while before deciding it must be the new cleaning product making him feel sick. He also had this strange sensation in his head. He couldn’t put his finger on it. He wasn’t sure if he felt it, heard it or both. But it sounded like waves and was most disconcerting. Whatever he was reacting to in this new cleaning product it was making him feel punch drunk and sick to his stomach. 

Once his stomach had settled and the dizziness gone and he felt perfectly fine again, he decided to go to Cap and explain about his reaction to the disinfectant. Maybe he could swap with one of the guys. He wasn’t sick but he didn’t want to be talking to God on the big white phone anymore today. Cap ordered Johnny to have Roy take a look at him and, if needed, take him into Rampart as a still alarm. If he was deemed fine, Cap would swap Johnny and Roy’s chores, if Roy was amenable to that. Cap gave an inward sigh - it meant having hamburgers or hot dogs for lunch and dinner. He really didn’t feel like them today. Roy was called in from doing KP duty. Once everything was explained to him, he led Johnny onto the runner board on the squad and took his vitals. Johnny had no fever and all his vitals were normal.

“I’m telling ya Roy I feel fine now. No nausea or dizziness. I’m sure it was just the new cleaner, is ‘all.” Johnny whined as Roy looked at him askance. 

“We need to get supplies so we could 10-8 to Rampart and get them to look you over while we’re there.” Roy put to Johnny.

“We can go to Rampart an’ get supplies, but I don’t need checking out. I’m fine, honest.” Johnny had his hand splayed across his chest. 

“Well, what’s the verdict, Roy?” Cap asked as he made his way to the two paramedics by the squad.

“His vitals are all fine. I can’t see anything wrong with him. I think he will be alright; but next time we go into Rampart, we’ll run it by a doctor.” Roy said as he put the stethoscope back into the trauma box.

“OK I’ll leave it to your judgement but if you start feeling sick John I want to know immediately, got that! Now, seeing that you are OK, you can go start your new chores.”

Johnny got up and immediately felt dizzy. He held onto the wing mirror strut. Cap had turned to go to the latrine and Roy was putting the bp cuff into the box so no one saw his slight swaying. Gathering himself and dismissing his sway for getting up too quickly, Johnny made his way into the kitchen, thanking Roy for swapping with him. He saw all the chopped vegetables on the board. They wouldn’t go into either hamburgers or hotdogs. Not sure what Roy was making, he decided to be adventurous and made a Hungarian Goulash. At least that is what he was gonna call it. In reality he just threw everything into a big pot and slow cooked the meat and vegetables together with paprika and tomato sauce.

The day was broken up with several runs; nothing serious but Johnny and Roy took it in turns to escort the patients as required. The patients all had non-life threatening injuries but Dr Morton had insisted on IVs for all his patients. The most serious of their patients was a mild concussion. The patient was talking and feeling fine, just a slight headache. Johnny thought he probably had a worse headache than the patient. Somehow this made him feel very angry. Johnny had it out with Dr Morton when he saw him about the needless use of paramedics transporting well patients. 

“It ties us up and then if a call comes in for a sicker patient, another squad further away is called. Tell me how is that an efficient use of our time or helping the citizens of LA?” Johnny wanted to know.

Dr Morton’s answer didn’t appease Johnny one bit. Dixie and Joe were unfortunate enough to walk into the melee and Johnny turned on them with venom in his voice and accused them all of sticking together. It was into this scene that Roy, who had been driving the squad, arrived. He missed all the discussion but not the tension in the air. Johnny saw Roy and asked for the keys to the squad. Roy said they were in the squad. 

“Fine.” Johnny turned on his heel and told Roy he was heading back to the station with or without him! He then stormed out of the ED.

“What was all that about?” said Roy, just as nonplussed as Dixie and Joe.

“I don’t know but I don’t think he was joking.” Joe said.

Roy turned and quickly hot tailed it out to the squad in time to see Johnny starting up the squad. He wasn’t gonna wait, Roy thought surprised!

Chet made some comment about Johnny being a pod person as he didn’t recognize the sullen and moody Johnny that now sat in the dayroom scowling at him and everyone else that happened to look at him. 

“What, you get outta bed on the wrong side this morning or what?” asked Chet.

Johnny gave Chet a nasty look and told him to mind his own business if he knew what was good for him. Chet, seeing the seriousness behind Johnny’s threat left the room feeling a distinct chill in the air. One by one the men left the room to find other things to do. Johnny had succeeded in insulting all the men apart from Cap. The anger that Johnny was feeling right now wouldn’t save Cap from getting an earful from Johnny either. Lucky for Johnny, Cap was tied up with paperwork.

Dinner came and Johnny was still feeling angry, but not as bad as before. He dished up dinner and called the men in. Four reluctant men and one unwary Cap made their way into the kitchen. It did smell good and actually looked edible. Cap was inordinately pleased as it wasn’t hamburgers or hotdogs. However, he was slightly nervous as Johnny wasn’t a great cook. A fact well known by everybody around the table. Chet made a smart comment to Marco about his last will and testament being in his strongbox in his closet. Johnny overheard this and quickly became irate.

“You haven’t even tried it. I put a lot of effort into making this. I’m not rude about your food before I taste it, after yes, but never before!” Johnny got up from the table and left his meal and the men behind.

The other men picked up their utensils and slowly tried Johnny’s meal. It was really good and very tasty. Chet felt a bit like a heel. He would go apologize to Johnny after dinner, if Johnny didn’t come back to the table that is. Unbeknownst to the other men, while they were eating dinner, Johnny decided to forgo it tonight. He was too angry to eat and his headache and hay fever were wearing him down. His antihistamine wasn’t working and it was making him feel tired. Johnny thought he would benefit from an early night. He started getting ready for bed. It was only 7 PM but he had had enough of today. It wasn’t a good day and all the emotional upheavals along with his physical state left him drained and wishing the day was over.

He bent over to put his turnout gear down by his bed and fell onto his bed unconscious. Nobody came to check on Johnny for over thirty minutes. When Chet did check, he saw Johnny sprawled out on his bed. He appeared to be sleeping. He quietly left the room to report his findings to the other guys. Roy was surprised to find Johnny asleep so early but given the mood he had been in thought maybe Johnny was overtired so maybe an early night would be beneficial to everybody.

Johnny came to about an hour later. He felt tired and unwell. He decided that the best place for him was bed. He took a couple of aspirin and finished getting ready for bed before succumbing to sleep. He settled down and was asleep in no time. Thoughts of telling Roy of his collapse never entered his head. The men were just about to go to bed at 10 PM when only the engine was called out. Roy made his way into the dorm and seeing Johnny still asleep pulled up his tossed off covers and then set about getting himself ready for bed. 10 minutes later Roy was settled and the lights were out.

The morning wake up tones went off. There had been no call outs for the squad or engine through the night. The men made their way into the latrine or kitchen. Cap went and retrieved the paper from the front lawn. The men were sitting around the kitchen table having breakfast. Johnny had reheated goulash and thought it tasted pretty good. He even got praised by Marco, one of the best cooks at 51, who wanted the recipe. Cap and Roy added their names to the list. Chet apologized to Johnny and asked for a copy as well. Mike said only if it was no trouble could he get a copy too. Johnny said he would write out the recipe and get it Xeroxed for them.

Cap called roll call after breakfast was eaten and dishes done. Johnny went to the broom closet and collected a yard broom. He had been given sweeping the parking lot and mowing the front lawn. He had just come in from mowing the bit of lawn out front. He had worked up a bit of a sweat and was sniffing continuously. He grabbed some tissues to give his nose a good blow. The resultant pain in his head was unexpected. His nose still hurt and Johnny went and took a couple of aspirin after his headache hadn’t settled twenty minutes later.

“What?” Johnny said when he saw Roy give him a questioning look as he swallowed the aspirin with a glass of milk. “For your information my nose hurt after I blew it.” He didn’t tell Roy about the headache. It would go in time. They always did.

As all was quiet, Johnny decided to check out the odd rattle he had heard in the squad over their last couple of shifts. He was under the squad on the mechanic’s roller board when he experienced weakness all down his right side. He had dropped the ratchet in his hand and several attempts to pick it up failed. He flexed his arm several times but it felt odd. Overcome with fear he called out to Roy but his speech was garbled and slurred. Johnny was starting to panic. I’m having a stroke he thought. Help, I need help. Using his left arm, he pulled himself partly out from under the squad. His left leg propelled him backward until he was clear of the rest of the squad. He was rolling on the board trying to get up. He looked like a beetle stuck on its’ back trying to right itself. Johnny suddenly realized how they must feel.  
Chet and Marco came in from doing the last of the hoses. They saw Johnny imitating a dead ant. 

“Whatcha doin’? Trying to improve ya dance moves there, Gage?” Chet said before laughing. 

“Huur me! Hurrrt mee!” What on earth was that coming out of his mouth? Why couldn’t he say the right word? He wanted help, he was already hurt. Tears of frustration and fear pricked his eyes.

“I don’t think he’s joking.” Marco said. “Quick, go get Roy!”

Marco helped Johnny to get off the board. In doing so he propped Johnny up into a sitting position and leaned him against the squad for support. Roy came running out from the kitchen. He was halfway through preparing lunch and the dinner vegetables.

“Johnny, what’s wrong?” Roy said kneeling down to his partner.

Marco stood back and let Roy in. He went and got the biophone and trauma box from the compartment on the other side.

“Don’t know, I started feeling all weak down my right side and couldn’t talk very well. I tried to call out for help but different words came out and my speech was slightly slurred and I couldn’t get up. I was aware of everything though, I just couldn’t do anything about it.”

Marco and Chet were nodding their heads in agreement, silently confirming Johnny’s account to Roy.

“You’re talking okay now. Let me check you over here. How does your right side feel?” Roy had noticed Johnny moving both his arms when recounting the story.

“It feels fine.” Johnny said after giving it some thought and moving his right leg and arm. He picked up the sphygmomanometer and it didn’t fall from his grasp. “I feel perfectly fine too.” Johnny said.

“All the same, ya gonna let Roy check you over aren’t you?” Cap said as he looked down at his paramedic team.

“Yes sir.” Johnny held out his arm for Roy to take his blood pressure. He had learned long ago to concede to Cap’s wishes before they became orders. In all honesty, Johnny was concerned with what was going on with him too.

“Rampart, this is Squad 51. How do you read?”

“Squad 51, this is Rampart.” said Joe Early.

“Rampart we have a Code I, a 25 year old male that experienced a short period of weakness down his right side with difficulty talking. He appears to be fully recovered. Neuro signs intact, pupils responsive and equal.” Roy then looked at his notebook and relayed Johnny’s vitals. “BP 110/70, pulse 78, resps 16.”

“Squad 51, continue to monitor and bring in. Should patient become unconscious insert IV and start D5W TKO, take vitals and contact again. Is ambulance at the scene?” Joe enquired.

“Rampart, patient is Johnny. He is refusing an ambulance. Requesting permission to bring the patient in via the squad.” 

“Permission granted. See you soon.”

Johnny said nothing as he was helped up from the floor. He walked over to his side of the squad with Chet and Marco supporting him. He got into the cab, and waited for Roy to get in and start the motor. With a big sigh and sniff he succumbed to his fate; another trip to Rampart. Joe met them at the door with a wheelchair. Johnny gave the wheelchair a suspicious look and proceeded to walk right past it.

“Not so fast Johnny! I brought this specially for you. Why don’t you sit in it and try it out for me.” Joe chuckled as Johnny ungraciously flopped himself into the chair and mumbled something about the twisted humor of certain doctors. To spare his embarrassment, Johnny was wishing that Joe Early was at that conference Brackett had been attending since yesterday. In the treatment room Joe could find very little wrong with Johnny. He had equal limb strength and his balance was superb. He put Johnny through a whole gambit of exercises and Johnny passed. Johnny didn’t let on to Joe that he was feeling nauseous through most of the tests. 

When Joe looked into Johnny eyes with the penlight he saw papilledema. Johnny’s optic disc’s were swollen, indicating increased pressure in the brain. He got Johnny to read from the eye chart. Johnny was shocked when he couldn’t see very much out of his left eye. Everything was wavy and kept moving on him. His right eye had been compensating for it.  
That was when Johnny confessed to Joe about the earlier episode in the latrine and the constant headache he’d had for the last few days. He also confessed to the nausea he was feeling now. An unexpected sneeze overtook Johnny. By habit he automatically squelched it by pinching his nostrils. The resulting pain in his head was more than Johnny could endure. He let out a low groan. He had tiny icicles of white hot pain stabbing his brain from every direction. He bent over to rest against the exam table. His elbows were resting on the mattress while his hands cradled his head. When the pain had eased slightly he stood straight up again. Joe had asked him a question and Johnny was too distracted by his pain to hear what Joe asked. He heard a splashing sound follow his movements in his head. He relayed this new information to Doctor Early. Joe quickly got out his stethoscope and placed it on Johnny’s forehead.

“Ah, Doc. What are ya doing?” Johnny asked.

“He’s trying to hear ya thoughts.” Roy replied.

Johnny gave Roy a long suffering look. “Oh, ha ha. Very funny, Roy.”

“Johnny, I want to order a skull xray. If my suspicions are correct, the xray will confirm it.” Joe informed Johnny.

Johnny came back from Radiology, carrying his packet of his latest head xrays in his lap. Roy was pushing Johnny along in the wheelchair. Both men were talking quietly as they made their way down the corridor. Joe saw them coming and directed them back into the treatment room. Joe went to follow them in when he got called away to an emergency.  
Johnny was sitting on the table swinging his legs back and forth waiting for Joe to return. A short while later Joe entered the room, ready to see Johnny’s xrays. Roy noticed Johnny’s shoelace was undone. He pointed this out to Johnny. Johnny was squatting down tying his shoelace when he collapsed on the floor and went into a seizure.  
To say the two men in the room were momentarily shocked by this was an understatement. However, training took over and they immediately went to their friend’s aid.  
Joe tried to place a tongue depressor between Johnny’s teeth. Johnny’s jaw was clamped down too tight. Roy was trying to restrain Johnny’s arms as he was flinging them out and had hit the metal leg of the exam table with a lot of force and Roy thought he had heard a snap. Joe called out for help and Dixie hearing them, came in. She saw what was going on and quickly called for a couple of orderlies to help get Johnny off the floor. The four men struggled but they got Johnny onto the exam table and started to restrain him. His right arm was deformed midshaft in his forearm. It looked like he had broken it when it had hit the table leg.

“Get me 10mg diazepam IM, Dixie.” Joe ordered.

A short while later a quiet and stuperous Johnny was lying on the exam table. His half closed eyes were staring dazedly up at the ceiling. He was struggling to keep his eyes open. All he wanted to do was sleep.The portable xray machine had been in and taken pictures of Johnny's right arm.

Joe was staring at the skull xray and couldn’t believe what he was looking at. He went over to Johnny and immediately propped the head of the table up 45 degrees. “I’m sorry Johnny.” He said to the now sleeping paramedic. It looked like the diazepam had finally won and Johnny was out to the count. Joe ordered Dixie to put Johnny onto 10 L oxygen via mask. She did this before she left the room as she had been paged over the intercom.

“What is it Doc?” Roy asked. The anxiety in his voice plain to hear.

“A few things, Roy. Firstly, Johnny has a simple midshaft fracture of both radius and ulna. That will need just a cast. Secondly, it looks like he received a broken nose and a small periorbital fracture on his left eye socket. I should’ve x-rayed him when he came in initially.” Joe said quietly. “If you look here you can see it.” Joe said pointing his pen to the two fractures for Roy to see. “Thirdly, he has this.”

“What’s the black area in his head? I’ve never seen that before?” Roy asked.

“That is what caused all his strange evasive symptoms. The seizure, the weakness down one side one minute then gone the next. Nausea and vomiting when his head was down then gone when his head was up. It’s also responsible for his loss of vision and visual distortion. I’m also willing to bet it’s responsible for his angry outburst yesterday. It is not unusual to have mood swings. It’s called a pneumocephalus Roy. It happens after trauma, some forms of infection, with tumors of the nose, ear or sinuses or surgery. I would say in Johnny’s case it was the punch to the face from our moonshine man. It’s not that common.”

“Is …is it fatal?” Roy asked as his voice got smaller and smaller with each word. Dreading to know the answer but desperate to hear it at the same time. Was he going to lose his best friend, his little brother to a punch in the nose! How was that even possible!

Joe turned and looked at Roy. He noticed Roy was pale and looked slightly shocky. Putting his arm on Roy’s shoulder to comfort him and offer support he replied, “No, it’s not fatal. In fact, it will be gone in a week or so. We will keep him here until then. I suspect what he took to be hay fever was in fact leaking cerebrospinal fluid!” Somehow that comment made Roy feel queasy. Johnny had been sniffing and blowing out the fluid around his brain for four days now. Roy thought he was going to be sick. He had to think of different questions to get his mind off that image.

“How do you treat it? Do you need to operate?” Roy asked as his hand pressed against his stomach subconsciously.

“Not in this case as far as I can tell. We will be taking regular xrays of his head to see the improvement. We will cast his broken nose and as his periorbital fracture doesn’t appear to be depressed and only a hairline we will leave well enough alone. I think it was the fractured nose that caused this. In time the gas will just be reabsorbed into Johnny’s bloodstream and exhaled through normal expiration.”

Roy felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders. He would have to explain it to Cap and the guys back at the station. Who was gonna believe this one? “So Johnny won’t have any long term effects from this?” 

“No, Roy. It will take longer for his arm to heal than it will for the pneumocephalus to resolve. Johnny will be back to normal in no time and back to work in about two months.”

Dixie had come into the room at this time to tell Roy that Cap was on the phone at the nurse’s station inquiring after Johnny. Roy excused himself to go tell Cap that Johnny was being admitted and that he would explain everything to them when he got back. Roy requested that he stay with Johnny until such a time a replacement for Johnny could be found. Cap approved the idea. Johnny’s arm and nose were set. He was transferred to the neuro ward in a 45 degree angle with an oxygen mask on. Roy accompanied him up to his room. Johnny stayed oblivious to it all. The diazepam was still hijacking his alertness. When Roy got back to the station, Dwyer was sitting in the kitchen having a cup of coffee waiting for his partner. Chet had been listening for the squad’s return. When it did he was out of the kitchen and in the bay before Roy had got out of the cab. 

“What’s up with the pigeon?” Chet asked.

Roy, still getting out of the squad told him he would tell them all together. Cap came out of his office, carrying his cup. Now was a good time for a refill and an update on John.  
Having got himself a coffee, Roy sat at the table and related to them all what had happened to Johnny. The punch to his nose had resulted in air slowly getting into the space between Johnny’s brain and skull. This space was normally filled with cerebrospinal fluid. As the air moved around his head and compressed his brain it resulted in different neurological symptoms that would come and go depending on the position of his head. He had also been leaking cerebrospinal fluid from his nose. The air caused a change in pressure in his head which was ok until Johnny increased it when he bent down or squatted. He related how Johnny had had a seizure while squatting down as this had increased his intracranial pressure. He also told them how he had broken his arm during the seizure. Johnny didn’t have hay fever like he thought or a reaction to the new cleaning product either. After relating everything that Dr Early had told him he sat there sipping his now lukewarm coffee while his crewmates digested the news.

The patient in Rampart, room 410 was finding the oxygen was drying out his mouth and he had to take it off frequently to take a sip of water, to wet his tongue. He was also finding it difficult to sleep at a 45 degree angle; it was putting a lot of pressure on his sacrum. He was told off once through the night when he lowered his bed. In the end the night nurse took his bed control off him. He had to stay at this 45 degree angle to help the gas dissipate. It also alleviated most of his symptoms.  
The next day saw the men from station 51 make their way up to Johnny’s room on the fourth floor. He was propped up with a couple of pillows. There was a subtle relaxation of tense muscles amongst the men when they saw their crewmate looking so well. Johnny turned off the TV and greeted his friends with a big lopsided grin.

“So, I guess this proves it 100%.” Chet said.

Feeling wary of being set up, Johnny cautiously asked what he meant.

“We now have definitive proof that you are an AIRHEAD!” Chet declared to the room at large. Mike and Marco laughed out loud. Roy and Johnny groaned and Cap gave Chet a spurious look. “What! It’s better than calling him a Bubblehead!” 

This then got Cap, Roy and Johnny joining in the laughter. 

The End


End file.
